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Beef Satay

A grilled beef skewer marinated in tomato, curry, and spices, served with a buttery onion sauce.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 15 ingredients
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Why it works: Cumin and garlic match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,082 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Beef Satay

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the meat

  1. Remove all fat from the meat.

  2. Cut the meat into strips about 5 cm thick, then cut each strip into 5 mm pieces.

  3. Combine tomato paste, tomato sauce, curry powder, chilli powder, garam masala, soy sauce, and water in a bowl. Add the meat to the mixture and mix the mixture well.

  4. Let the mixture stand overnight or for several hours.

  5. Drain the meat. Reserve the marinade for sauce.

Grill the skewers

  1. Thread the meat onto bamboo skewers.

  2. Place the skewers under a hot grill.

  3. Grill until golden brown and cooked through. Turn the skewers frequently.

  4. Brush the skewers with extra oil.

  5. Serve the skewers with Sate Sauce.

Make the sauce

  1. Heat butter in a pan. Add peeled and finely-chopped onion.

  2. Saute gently until the onion is golden brown.

  3. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Add the reserved marinade and stir until combined.

  4. Bring the sauce to a boil. Boil uncovered for 5 minutes or until thick.

  5. Serve hot or cold.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

438Calories
29 gProtein
30 gFat
12 gCarbs

Counts 11 of 12 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 11 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Beef100g cooked250
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Turmeric1 tsp ground (3g)9
Soy Sauce1 tbsp (15ml)9
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Cumin1 tsp ground (2.1g)8
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Cumin + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,082 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Tomato + cumintop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,272 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Tomato + garlictop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,076 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  4. Cumin + clovetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,306 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  5. Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Rump steak
Provides the meat that becomes tender and juicy when marinated and grilled.
Tomato paste
Adds concentrated tomato flavour, colour and body to the marinade and sauce.
Curry powder
Supplies the warm spiced flavour that penetrates the meat during marinating.
Ground cumin
Adds earthy aroma that deepens the spiced flavour of the marinade.
Soy sauce
Adds savoury depth and salt to the marinade, helping the meat taste seasoned throughout.
Oil
Carries the spices and helps the skewers brown and stay moist on the grill.

The step that matters

Grilling the skewers. Grilling over high heat while turning often browns the outside and cooks the thin pieces through before they dry out. Too little heat or too little turning leaves the meat grey, tough or unevenly cooked.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, sauce, cumin, garlic, vinegar, pepper):

  1. Oreganofits better
  2. Corianderfits better
  3. Turmericfits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, sauce, cumin, garlic, vinegar, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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